Clutch mechanism.



No. 876,318. PATENTED JAN. 14, 1908. R. H. BOWMAN.

CLUTCH MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 15, 1901.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

WITNESSES: INVENTOR wgzwc Q A BY Hz WV/M @W ATTORNEYS No. 876,318.PATENTED JAN. 14. 1908. R. H. BOWMAN. CLUTCH MECHANISM APPLICATION FILEDAUG.15. 1901.

2 SHEBTS-SHEBT 2.

WITNESSES:

ROBERT HENRY BOWMAN, OF CANON CITY, COLORADO.

CLUTCH MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 14;, 1908.

Application filed Ahgust 15. 1907. Serial No. 388.628.

To all whom it may concern: 7

Be it known that 1, ROBERT HENRY Bow- MAN, residing at Canon City, inthe county of Fremont and State of Colorado, have invented a new andImproved ()lutch Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

My present invention, which generally relates to clutch or powertransmitting gear or keying mechanism, forms a divisional part of mycomplete construction of propelling mechanism, disclosed in a co-pendingapplication filed August 15, 1907, No. 388,627, and it comprehends animproved construction of mechanism of the character statcd, of a simpleand economical nature that can be quickly and positively manipulated forthe desired purposes and which will effectively operate to lock thepower transmitting pulleys or gears to the drive shafts, all of whichwill hereinafter be described in detail, specifically pointed out in theappended claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in whichFigure 1, is a perspective view of my improved construction of clutchmechanism, the several parts being adjusted to key or lock the power orsprocket gear to the drive shaft. Fig. 2, is a detail perspective viewof the two shiftable key sleeves hereinafter referred to, separated.Fig. 3, is a vertical sec tion of the complete mechanism, the partsbeing adjusted to allow the sprocket wheel to run loosely on the shaft,and Fig. 41, is a detail view of one of the shifting lever devices,hereinafter specifically referred to.

In my co-pending application, I have described an improved constructionof propelling mechanism in which is included a series of propellingshafts, each'equipped with a power transmitting sprocket wheel looselymounted thereon.

For the practical application of the mechanism disclosed in my saidco-pending application an individual means must be pro vidcd for eachtransmitting sprocket Wheel for keying the said wheel on the shaft orreleasing it to run loosely at desired times.

My present invention comprehends a preferred construction of means forsuch purpose, which I shall now proceed to describe in detail.

By referring now more particularly to Fig. 3 of the drawing in which theseveral parts are adjusted to allow the drive sprocket wheel to runloosely, 1 designates the drive shaft, in practice, suitably mounted,and having one end projected beyond the framing a which may representthe side of a boat, and which carries at its outer end a disk 2 fixedlymounted on. the said shaft, as shown.

3% designate two sleeves or collars, one of which 3, is slidably'mountedon the shaft 1., has key-ways 30 to engage the keys 10 on theshaft, and, has a friction disk 31 at its outer end for engaging theinner face of the sprocket wheel 5, that is loosely mounted on the shaft1 and disposed adjacent the disk 2 for frictionally ci'igaging it in themanner presently explained.

The disk portion 31 of the sleeve 3 is also formed with a plurality ofapertures 32 that register with a series of like positioned sockets 50in the inner face of the wheel 5 as clearly shown in Fig. 3.

The sleeve 41 is slidablc on. the sleeve 3 and it has an annular groove10 and a series of keying lugs 41 adapted to be shoved through theapertures 32 and into the sockets 50 as will presently be more fullyexplained. The groove 10 accommodates the bifurcated ends --60 of ashifting lever (5 that is fulcruined at (51 on a bracket 6 that projectsfrom the frame a. The lower bifurcated ends of the lever carry frictionrollers 62 for reducing friction between said ends and the sleeve 1while shaft 1 is rotating 7 designates the main shifting lever, alsofulcrumcd as at 70 on the bracket 1) and it has its lower end bifurcatedas at 70 to co operate with another annularly grooved collar S slidablyand loosely mounted on the shaft 1 adjacent the framing a whose functionis to move both sleeves or collars 3 and 41 outwardly after the said twocollars have been. primarily adj ustcd by the lever 6 as will presentlyappear.

Projected outwardly from the upper edge of side frame a is alongitudinally grooved bracket 0 that has ratchet teeth 0, and a freeway a in which plays a cross pin S) in the upper end of the lever 6which is apertured to straddle and move freely over the outer end of thebracket c, it being held to rock on its fulcrum on bracket 1) by a rod10 that lies on the grooved bottom of bracket 0, see Fig. 3, is madefast at the outer end to the cross pin 9 and has its inner end securedto the stud .11 pendent from the horizontally shiftablc lever 12fulcrumed at 12 on the frame a and provided with a spring latch 12 forengaging a ratchet plate 13 for holding the said lever to its inward oroutward adjustments.

The main band or shifting lever 7 is apertured as at to fit over theratchet bracket 0 and it has an elongated slot 76 in which is fulcrumeda hand gripped releasing member 21 held to its outer or normal positionby a spring 22. To the said member 21 is connected one end of a pendentrod 13 that joins with a link 1.4 that pivotally connects with a pair ofpawls 15-16 that engage the tional coupling of the sprocket wheel to theshaft and a positive locking of the said wheel to the shaft, bothoperations of which can be independently and readily effected,

since first moving the lever Tin the direction of the arrow Y, see Fig.3, causes the collar 8 to slide outwardly and thereby move both of thesleeves and at the same time bring the disk 31 into frictionalengagement with the sprocket wheel and said wheel into engagement withthe disk 2 on the end of the shaft 1.

As the two sleeves3 and 4 are moved outwardly by the lever 7, the sleeve4 is moved into position to be readily forced into a locked engagementwith the wheel 5, which operation is effected by swinging the lever 12horizontally inwardly, which swings the lever 6 in such manner as toforce the sleeve 4 further outward to move the lugs 41 into the sockets50 in the wheel 5 as will be clearly understood by referring to Fig. 3.To release the keying of the wheel 5 onto shaft 1 the operator pressesthe member 21 inwardly as he grasps the lever 7 which lifts the pawlsfrom engagement with the rack member 0 and permits of swinging the saidlever in the direction of arrow 2, thus breaking the direct frictionalcontact between the wheel 5, disk 31 and the disk on the outer end ofthe shaft, and by moving the horizontally adjustable lever outwardly,the sleeve 4 will be swung backwardly sufficient to bring its lugs outof engagement with the sockets in the wheel 5 and thereby leave saidwheel loose to freely turn on shaft 1. To maintain a positively lockedposition of the several parts when they have been shifted to key thewheel to the shaft, a locking latch 17 pivotally mounted on a flange 63of wheel 5 is swung into a locked engagement with a stud 64 on thesleeve 4, as clearly shown in Fig. 1.

From the foregoing, taken in connection with the drawings, the generaladvantages and manner of operation of my invention, it is believed, willbe readily understood.

By reason of arranging the main lever and the rack and the pawl devicesthat cooperate therewith, as shown permits of pulling the said leverback and relieving the strain on the dogs or pawls before raising them,and furthermore, by providing the initial and secondary friction meansfor keying the wheel to the shaft, the said wheel can be keyed to thesaid shaft without sudden jars or shocks to the machinery to which poweris transmitted through wheel 5, since the friction can be firstgradually put on by shoving the disk 31 against the wheel 5 and thewheel 5 against the disk on the end of shaft and afterward positivelylocking the parts together by moving the lugs on disk 4 into the sockets50 in the wheel 5.

hat I claim is:

1. In a mechanism of the character described, the combination with theshaft, a disk fixedly held thereon, and a sprocket wheel loosely mountedon the shaft adjacent the disk, said wheel having a clutch face; of asleeve slidable on the shaft for frictionally engaging the wheel, aclutch sleeve that turns with the friction sleeve and is slidablymounted for clutching with, the clutch face of the sprocket wheel, alever mechanism for moving the two sleeves together toward the sprocketwheel, and another lever mechanism for sliding the clutch sleeveindependently of the friction sleeve for the purposes set forth.

2. In a mechanism of the character described, the combination with thedrive shaft, a disk fixedly held thereon, and a drive gear looselymounted on the shaft adjacent the said disk, said drive gear having oneface arranged to frictionally engage with the disk 2 and its oppositeface provided with clutch portions of an inner sleeve rotatable with theshaft but slidable thereon for engaging the wheel and friction allyforcing it against the fixedly held disk, an outer sleeve rotatablewith, but slidable upon the inner sleeve, said outer sleeve havingclutch members adapted to move into engagement with the clutch portionsof the drive gear after the said drive gear has been moved intofrictional engagement with the shaft disk, a lever for simultaneouslymoving the inner and the outer disks outwardly toward the gear andanother lever mechanism for imparting the supplemental movement to theclutch sleeve whereby to move the said sleeve into a clutch engagementwith the gear, substantially as shown and for the purposes described.

3. In a mechanism of the character de scribed, the combination with theshaft, the disk fixedly held thereon, and the transmitting wheel looselymounted thereon; of the lap inner sleeve rotatable with and slidably 1adapted to extend through the apertures in mounted on the shaft, saidsleeve including a disk for frictionally engaging the transmittingwheel, said disk having apertures, the Wheel having sockets adapted toregister with the said apertures, a lever for shifting the said disk onthe shaft, a pawl and rack mechanism cooperating with the said lever, asecond sleeve mounted on the first sleeve slidable thereon, androtatable therewith, said second sleeve having projecting studs the diskof the first sleeve and into the sockets of the transmitting gear, abifurcated lever for engaging the second mentioned sleeve, and a springlatch controlled shifting member for actuating the said lever.

ROBERT HENRY BOlVMAN. lVitnesses:

GUY WV. HARDY, ETIIEL HUXLEY.

